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The "basic Skills" Of Children's Drawing Are Not Skills, But Creativity!

November 21, 2020
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When many parents see their children falling in love with paintbrushes, they feel that their children must have a talent for painting and must not be wasted. They quickly register for a copy class and then take a grade to add some weight to their future studies. However, many teaching experts suggest that copying painting is no longer suitable for children's artistic growth.


Signs of sensitive period for children's graffiti


Scientists have long discovered that children start a sensitive period of painting from the age of 3 or 4. When the sensitive period of drawing comes, children often express their feelings through graffiti and various paintings. This is a supplement when the child's expression ability is not perfect, and it is also a way for the child to give full play to his imagination and unique creativity. At this time, what parents should do is to “play” with their children and draw.


The greatest value of children's art lies in thinking, creativity, not skill. Xue Wenbiao, director of Shanghai Modern Children's Art Museum, has been engaged in creative art education for many years. In his opinion, Children are different from adults. The foundation of the childhood stage should be: Color, composition, cognition, bold expression, and master various painting tools and materials, including Color Water Pen, gouache, oil painting, charcoal, ink and so on.


Children's creative art = free painting


When it comes to children's creative art, Professor Paul De Voutou from the Higher School of Art in Nancy, France, looked at a loss, but after seeing a few children's works, he came up with a book called Free Painting published in 1938. French books-the author EliseFREINET and her husband created a well-known French education method: free painting.


Mr. Paul introduced: “Free painting is to advocate not to teach children what to paint and let them play freely.” He used to teach children lessons in France. The teacher will specify a tool to complete a work in each lesson. Any restriction, the purpose is to encourage students to create diversity and be different from others. The role of the teacher's guidance is to prevent children from making similar things.


Color Water Pen

Color Water Pen


The Color Water Pen Company also said that free painting is mainly to cultivate children's interest. If children are really interested in painting, they can learn professional sketching and watercolor after a certain age. This coincides with the philosophy of the curator Xue Wenbiao. When free painting first came out, many parents didn't understand it, thought it was not serious, and painted silly. But in France, the children of those years have now become parents and can fully accept this kind of education. Free painting can be said to have been rooted in their thinking, because it can ‘awaken’ people’s creativity.


It is understood that in France, even the current art academy has completely eliminated the concept of traditional art. Traditional art cannot be said to have no status or non-existence, but retreat to a variety of choices. The highest state is your thinking, and then starting from your thinking, choose the traditional art you need to learn.


In France, the basic skill of painting is not drawing or watercolor, but creativity. If a child wants to draw a truck, he will always find his own way. It may not be the traditional way, but it is very likely that he may not be able to do it in the traditional way and he has unexpected creativity.


The advantage of Creative Art lies in the fact that it is a very narrow path to learn painting skills alone, and creative art is to give children an understanding and perception of life and a way to solve problems, which can be applied to future work. In any field, it will last a lifetime.


Maybe not every child will become a very creative person, but at least they can become a person with a sense of feeling-knowing how to appreciate various works of art, having their own unique vision, this is to improve the quality of life, not a means of making a living.


Accompany the children to play and draw


Compared with traditional art, another big advantage of creative art is that children can play more with themselves. The creative art tools are not limited to any kind of brush.


Use the back of various leaves to paint, use paper to form a ball as a brush, and slowly print various patterns on the drawing paper. You can also use the cut surfaces of various fruits or vegetables as a brush; you can also use your fingers to print patterns. Then draw various accessories on the fingerprints.


In fact, free painting even only uses drawing paper as one of the tools of painting. Professor Paul suggested that every time some small methods to attract children can be used, such as cutting an apple in half, it can become a tool for creation at a time without any restrictions on children. Children can paint different colors on the apple, or even make a seal, the purpose is to arouse their interest.


What should parents do to cultivate children's creativity? There are always blank papers and various tools at home so that children can start creating immediately when they have ideas. When the child shows his work to you, don't ask what it is or what it doesn't look like. Always encourage him. Professor Paul said the truth.


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